The subject application is directed to a system and method for displaying channel information and visual content in a two-dimensional array. More particularly, the subject application is directed to a system and method for using a two-dimensional interface with a combined intuitive navigation paradigm to improve channel browsing and selection. In particular, the subject application is directed to a system and method for displaying and navigating a graphical two-dimensional array of a plurality of available channels on an associated display unit.
With arrival of cable and digital televisions, the number of channels accessible to a user has dramatically increased. Separately, digital channel numbers are represented in two parts to denote major and minor channel numbers, e.g. 11.1 and 11.2. Efficient channel selection is becoming an important issue to consider for television makers. There are two traditional methods for tuning to a channel: using the channel up/down keys to tune to the previous channel or the next channel in a linear sequence and typing in the channel number. The first method offers linear access to channels; thus, if there are one hundred channels between the current channel and the desired channel, the user is required to press the channel up/down key 100 times, or press and hold the key for an extended period of time. The second method requires the user to memorize the channel number. This can be challenging when working with digital broadcasting because of the large values (channel numbers may go up to the hundreds) and number (most stations broadcast in multiple minor channels). For example, KQED (PBS) in the San Francisco Bay area broadcasts channels 9, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, and 9.5. In the San Jose area, there exist nearly 60 available channels broadcast over the air, and even more via cable or other services.
Current attempts to ease this burden on consumers include television software that provides favorite channel lists, channel labels, and the like so as to aid in channel browsing and selection. The favorite channel lists stores a list of user-defined channels, so that by bringing up the list the user can then select desired channel. This can work to a certain extent, until the list grows so large that it transforms to the very same problem as before. Channel labels may also help the user identify the content of the channel. For example, if a channel is affiliated with CBS network, the user can type in a label “CBS.” Having done this, the next time the user cycles through all of the channels, the label will identify the station so that the user knows it is the desired channel. However, this mechanism requires the user to first define the channel labels. This effort increases with the number of available channels, not to mention the research required to label a channel.
Today's advanced television units include rear projection displays, liquid crystal displays (LCD), digital light processing (DLP) displays, cathode ray tube (CRT) displays, and the like and have become capable of providing consumers with ever-increasing options regarding programming, display settings, menu options, and the like. For example, some such advanced television units include the ability to receive portable storage media, e.g. SD, xD, Compact Flash, Memory Stick, or other flash-based memory, including USB or IEEE1394 drives, so as to display captured video, photographs, or the like. Split-screen or picture-in-picture, where two channels are able to be viewed at once, has also become common in the television units currently sold. Cable and satellite companies have taken advantage of this technology by offering greater numbers of programming choices than ever before, including high-definition television broadcasts.
The cable and satellite companies also offer guides to their respective programming, typically in the form of a scroll-down interface displaying the time, channel, and title of a program. Advanced features allow for a brief description of a program upon selection of the program by the consumer from the guide. These guides do not, however, provide a visual display of the program. To view the program, even momentarily, the user is required to select the channel, thereby leaving the guide or menu. Some current televisions allow for the labeling of channels and organizing of channels by the consumer. In such a case, the channel being edited may be tuned to for viewing. However, such a display of both a currently running program and label is not available for browsing or channel selection, but is rather only displayed for editing.
DVD menus often include a chapter or scene selection sub-menu that organizes chapters or scenes in a two-dimensional layout. Video game consoles may also offer screenshot selection based upon a two-dimensional layout. However, in these types of user interfaces, the data displayed is often static and does not require processing to extract and aggregate information such as user defined labels, station names, program titles, and the like.